Halifax Central Library, Nova Scotia, Canada

By the book...

Collaborating practices embark on four months additional design development for Halifax Central Library

On November 4th 2010 in Halifax, Canada the design for the new Halifax Central Library was revealed at the fifth public consultation meeting. During this meeting the architects identified the trends from all four of the prior public meetings and showed how the building design has responded to the users' ideas.

The 45m Canadian dollars (€ 33m) Central Library in the Canadian port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia will have a clear Canadian reference as well as a detectable Scandinavian design heritage as the winning team behind the design is the Canadian architectural practice Fowler Bauld & Mitchell and Danish schmidt hammer lassen architects. In March 2010, Fowler Bauld & Mitchell and schmidt hammer lassen architects won the international competition to design Halifax Central Library.

"In the design process we have been particular keen on reflecting the spirit of the local community as well as the ‘genus loci' of the site making Halifax Central Library unique in many ways. We believe that Halifax Central Library will become a landmark cultural hub for the community," said Morten Schmidt, Founding Partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects.

At this point, Fowler Bauld & Mitchell and schmidt hammer lassen architects enter four months of Design Development, with a final public presentation and unveiling of the final detail design in March/April 2011. Breaking ground is scheduled for mid 2011 and the library is due for completion in early 2014.